Introduction: The primary structure of human chromogranin A (CgA) not only contains 10 pairs of basic amino acids, which are potential cleavage sites for specific endogenous proteases, but also other sites in the molecule can be subjected to cleavage. Several CgA-related peptides have been identified in tissue, and many of the biological effects attributed to CgA seem to be mediated by these peptides.
Materials and methods: Peptides homologous to defined parts of the human CgA molecule were selected and synthesised. Antibodies were raised, and 11 specific radioimmunoassays were developed. Plasma samples from 20 patients with neuroendocrine tumours were collected and measured in all assays.
Results: All assays measured circulating levels of CgA-derived peptides. Only four of the assays measured concentrations that correlated with that of total CgA. However, concentrations of the individual CgA-related peptides were generally lower than the concentration of total CgA. Different neuroendocrine tumours seem to process CgA differently. The ratio between a given region-specific assay and total CgA is inversely correlated to tumour activity.
Conclusion: The assays presented allow measurements of defined regions of CgA and will thus become important tools for further studies of processing of CgA.